Appraise
3. How to appraise
3.2. Which papers will answer your clinical question?
3.2 Which papers will answer your clinical question?
Why am I reading this paper? Is it relevant to the clinical question I am interested in?
Think back to Ask, where you structured your clinical question as a PICO, or (S)PICO. Using a (S)PICO helps you to decide whether a paper is relevant to your clinical question.
Here is an example using (S)PICO i.e. including species:
In [cats with naturally occurring chronic kidney disease] does [a renal prescription diet compared to normal diet] increase the [survival time] of affected cats?
The literature that you need to read in order to answer your clinical question should relate to cats, kidney disease and diets.
The research question being addressed by the paper is usually found in the last paragraph of the introduction.